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Inscribed Base (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College) -
Inscribed Base, In Situ (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)
Inscribed Base: Honorific Inscription for Emperor Caracalla
- Date
- 211–217 AD (under Caracalla, after Geta’s death; see the singular τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοκράτορος, ll. 12–13)., Roman
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- IN64.052
- Material
- Marble, Stone
- Object Type
- Statue Base, Inscription
- Inscription Type
- Honorific Inscription
- Inscription language
- Greek
- Inscription Text
Αὐτοκράτορα Καίσαρα Μ. Αὐρήλιον Σεουῆρον Ἀντωνῖνον Εὐσεβῆ Εὐ- 4 τυχῆ Σεβαστὸν ἀρχιερέ- α μέγιστον ἡ πρωτόχθων καὶ μητρόπολις τῆς Ἀσ[ί]- ας καὶ Λυδίας ἁπάσης κα[ὶ] 8 δὶς νεωκόρος τῶν Σεβασ- τῶν κατὰ τὰ δόγματα τῆς ἱ- ερᾶς συγκλήτου, φίλη καὶ σύμμαχος Ῥωμαίων κὲ 12 οἰκεία τοῦ κυρίου αὐτο- κράτορος ἡ λαμπροτά- τη Σαρδιανῶν πόλις τὸν ἴδιον σωτῆρα καὶ εὐεργέ- 16 vacat την. vacat
- Inscription Translation
- “The most conspicuous city of the Sardians, protochthonous and metropolis of Asia and of all Lydia, and keeper of two Koinon temples of the Augusti by virtue of the decrees of the sacred Senate, friend and ally of the Romans and relative of the lord Emperor honors the Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Pius Felix Augustus, pontifex maximus, as her own savior and benefactor.”
- Inscription Comment
- Site
- Sardis
- Sector
- B
- Trench
- BE 64
- Locus
- B BE-H
- B-Grid Coordinates
- E10 / N66 *96.50 - 96.00
- Findspot
- Bath-Gymnasium Complex, BE-H frigidarium.
- Description
Marble base with molding at top and bottom. On the upper surface there is a recess for the location of a plinth.
- Dimensions
- H. 0.77, W. 0.68, Th. 0.65, H. of letters 0.027–0.034.
- Comments
“Très bon exemple intact de la titulature,” L. Robert, RPhil 1967, p. 49 n. 6 (= id., Op. Min. V, p. 389).
1–5 Herrmann refers to A. Mastino, Le titolature di Caracalla e Geta attraverso le iscrizioni (1981), p. 99.
5 Dot: -ΤΟΝ·Η - πρωτόχθων: see L. Robert, Villes, p. 316; id., Asie Min., p. 205 n. 22; 382, 7–8 comm.
11 Ligature KE
14–15 τὸν ἴδιον σωτῆρα instead of τὸν ἑαυτῆς σωτῆρα: for the frequent use of ἴδιος in the Imperial period, see J. Nollé on IGSK 37 (Selge), no. 26, 6, with literature; and C. P. Jones, PAPS 143 (1999), p. 599.
- See Also
- Bibliography
- The monument is mentioned in BASOR 177 (1965), p. 23, fig. 23; and SPRT, pp. 145, 277 n. 79; pp. 150, 279 n. 18. Editions of the text: L. Robert, RPhil 1967, p. 49 n. 6 (= id., Op. Min. V, p. 389); C. Foss in R3, p. 171, no. 5, fig. 209 (SEG 36, 1096); Herrmann, ms.
- Author
- GP